It’s true: in the fifties and sixties, the Japanese were famous for their blatant copying. And they were quite unabashed about it, like this Datsun Sports that appeared in 1963, a year and a half after the MGB. The Datsun’s styling may not have been as refined and timeless as the its role model. And in its 1600 cc form, it was no faster either. But playing second fiddle to the classic British sports car would change, all too-soon, with the revolutionary 240Z in 1971. And even before then, Datsun built “a better MGB” by dropping a 135 hp SOHC 2 liter four in this car, creating the semi-legendary Datsun Sports 2000 in 1967. From copying to leapfrogging, all within a handful of years; the Datsun Sports/Fairlady was just another example of the Japanese revolution taking place in the sixties and seventies.

Datsun’s interest in British-style sports cars goes back at least to 1952, with their first shot at it, the DC-3. And no less than the legendary Yutaka Katayama (“Mr. K”) spearheaded this little 860cc 25hp four-seat roadster, the first attempt to bring a bit of open-top flair if not exactly sporty performance to post-war Japan (top speed was 43 mph). In his own words:

“By the time of the first Tokyo Motor Show in 1952, in my role as Nissan’s Advertising Manager I arranged for a sports car body to be designed and manufactured by Yuichi Ohta. This body was to be attached to a Datsun truck chassis. This was the first sports model to be produced after the war by any Japanese company. Although this was largely my private project, Nissan agreed to build a production version, and this became officially named the Datsun Sports DC-3. One of the first production models is still proudly shown in the entrance hall of Nissan today.”

The DC-3 was a commercial flop, selling only fifty units, but the seeds of Datsun’s (and Mr. K’s) sports car program were planted.

And they sprouted again in the form of the S211 of 1959 (above). It’s similar to that of many others sports-car efforts of the fifties: a limited-production fiberglass body sitting on a frame, in this case again from a Datsun pickup. All of twenty of these were built. Sort of a Japanese Kaiser-Darrin, or 1953 Corvette. But Datsun was not deterred.

The next version. the SPL 212, appeared in 1960, and was the first to bear the Fairlady moniker, a reference to the popular Broadway show My Fair Lady. Stylistically similar to its predecessor, it now had a steel body, but still shared truck underpinnings including its 1189cc four. That mill had a decidedly Austin-ish look to it, fruit of Datsun’s license to build several of their models, and engines. These cars were built for export only, in two series, the later one now sporting 60 hp. These cars are very hot collector items, should you be so lucky as to stumble into one in a barn. Not too likely.

That brings us to 1963, when the original version of our featured car was built. The first series (1963 – 1965) were called Sports 1500, and borrowed the Cedric’s 1500 cc engine. And it no longer sat on pickup platforms, sharing its underpinnings with the Datsu 310 sedan. The definitive Sports 1600 appeared in 1965, and was built through 1970, until the 240Z/Fairlady replaced it. I’m not certain of the exact year of this one, but it lacks 1968’s side marker lights, so we’ll call it a ’67. That was a good year for sports cars anyway, the last before smog controls started to take their bite away.

It’s difficult to find confirmation of it, but the Datsun Sports sports the unmistakable hand of Pininfarina. It is well know that the firm styled the 410 sedan, which appeared in 1964. And the similarities to the Fiat 1500 Spider/cabriolet (above)are too obvious.

But details, like on the front end and rear end are not quite obviously Pininfarina, so it leaves a bit of a question as to who is ultimately responsible.

But then that applies to the very clean MGB too (picture flipped for comparison), which too shows lots of Pininfarina influence, but is not directly credited to the firm (the MGB-GT’s roof and rear hatch are).

Lift up the Datsun’s hood, and it does look properly British there, with the dual SU carbs. The R16 engine was rated at 96 hp, which matched the MGB’s quite closely, even if it lacked a bit of the low-end punch the B’s bigger 1800 cc engine. But that was seriously rectified in 1967, when Datsun dropped in the 2000cc SOHC U20 motor, which was rated at 135 hp (150 hp with a competition package). Suddenly, the Datsun roadster was in a class of its own.

“Brrapp,; snick; brrapp, snick; brrapp, snick…” I remember vividly the description given to the 2000’s lusty engine and new five-speed stick by Car and Driver. Everyone swooned over it; there was no other roadster for the money that could touch it. The Datsun 2000 found its day in the sun, even if it was a bit short-lived.

I’m 99% certain this is a 1600, as only very few 2000s were imported in 1967, and by 1968 an unfortunate tall windshield was intalled, in order to meet some ridiculous federal rule about a minimum area the wipers had to sweep. It was the only way the MGB beat the Datsun: it simply added a third wiper, and kept its handsome low windshield. The 1968 and up Datsuns looked like they were built for giraffes, or really tall folks.

But then this example does have a five speed transmission, which the 1600s did not have. Probably a later upgrade. I didn’t have a chance to look under the hood. And that wood trim is an upgrade too.

The Datsun Sports enjoyed a successful career on the tracks, as part of Mr. K’s efforts to get the brand out in front of the kind of buyers he coveted. Bob Bondurant’s school had a fleet of these along with the 510s. It was an exciting time for Datsun, which reached their pinnacle with the 240Z. But pinnacles, by their nature, imply a descent as well as the ascent to the top. We’ll take one on in a companion piece later today.

I bought a 66 1600 Fairlady roadster from a civilian tech rep when he left Tokyo in 68. I was lucky enough to be assigned to a small Air Force Squadron [AFCS] on North Camp Drake, an Army post, and spent 38 months of my 4 yr career there. I drove that car from one island to the other, all over Japan. It had a hardtop for the winter months, and that was our salvation on a 1970 winter trip to the Sapporo Snow Festival on the northern Island of Hokkaido, got caught in a blizzard for a week, and toward the last days only had sake and rice at a truck stop, sleeping on a concrete floor with about 30 truck drivers. I could write a book about that tour in Japan, when military pay was almost more than you could spend and a sports car that will forever live in my heart.

What a great car. Although these little roadsters are outside of my knee-jerk car love responses, I have always been fascinated by these little Datsuns. An attractive little car that sounds like a blast to drive. I find it interesting that nobody but Mazda has kept this candle burning.

For a year or so in the late 70’s I carpooled to work with a woman who had one of these. On nice days we’d take her car and on rainy days we’d take my Volvo 122S. The Datsun was a pure sports car experience without the reliability issues that seemed to plague the British and Italian marques. I drove it a few times, and while it wasn’t overly powerful, it felt zippy and nimble, and was a blast to drive.

Now that’s one very pretty car! That’s about all I can say about it, as I have never seen one. Come to think of it, I had never even heard of any Japanese car, and my introduction to the world of Asian imports was the green Datsun pickup I saw upon arriving in Marysville, CA, on my way to Beale AFB in November 1969 after basic training.

I have a neighbor with one of these. The first time I saw it, I thought it was an old Triumph. I see it occasionaly on the weekend… it’s missing a front fender from a little racing accident, but he still drives it.

My brother-in-law was a big Datsun fan when he was younger (and sans wife & kids), and he still has two or three of these sitting under tarps in the back yard (where they have been for the past 20 years or so).

An interesting sidebar is how Nissan’s marketing department was as lame as their engineering office was strong. “Fairlady”? What self-respecting young MAN is gonna buy something like that?

“Mr K” had noted that problem also, and fought with the home office while in the United States repeatedly over cars’ nomenclature. The original 240Z was supposed to wear the Fairlady moniker; one account reported that Mr. K just pried off the nameplate and called it, in shows and demonstrations, the 240Z. As that was the corporate platform name for it, he felt he could hardly be brought in for insubordination.

Nor is it, IMO, coincidental that Nissan’s slide down happened as Mr. K was recalled to Japan and retired. The Japanese firms understand engineering problems; but they seem, uniformly, to lack vision and passion.

Open air motoring in japan in the ’50’s and ’60’s was an assault on ones seances. The aroma of what were called huneybucket carts (transport by horse drawn carriages of human excriment) assailed the nose, as well as roadside fish stands. Fithy streets! Et al

The noise of continual horn blasting, ringing of thousands of bicycle bells, the Blair of store outdoor loud speakers. And then the very narrow streets teaming with swarming people.

In all I am surprised they made as many ‘sports cars’ as they did. But do understand the decades old popularity of cars like the Crown and Gloria.

Hard to believe it was once that way-It certainly isn’t anymore. It’s a first world country in every way-just like the US or Canada-wait…. I take that back-There’s some things they don’t have-like the crime.

The look of the 1959 S211 exhibits some real live competition tires. It seems that Nissan perfected the donut tire design for all 4 wheels before we called them spare tires in the ’80s. Those tires just don’t fit on that vehicle. The donuts would look better.

I used to have one. One of each, actually: the 1600 and the 2000. In 1988, I bought a ’68 2000 in a horrible green color. I rebuilt the engine and transmission in my living room. I added Webber side drafts that I could never get jetted quite right.

About that time, I found a white 1600 that looked much better with the short windshield. At first I planned to transplant the 2000 engine into the 1600 body, but the 1600 ran really well and sounded great and I kind of lost interest in the 2000.

Something about the sound of the engine, the feel of the non-assisted steering and breaks, and the fact that you had to double-clutch to shift down to second gear, made the car seem much faster than it really was. With the skinny 1960s tires and live axle, it would oversteer like crazy. Driving it was always an adventure.

I tried to recapture that experience with my 2001 Miata, which is much better in every measurable way but it was a real disappointment. Suspension mods helped, but it will never be as fun as my Datsun 1600.

I have a set of 5.60×15 crossply tyres for my Hillman originals so far Ive only driven it on 205/60×15 amd it corners beautifully Im going to swap them over one day and scare myself I remember driving those cars too fast on old tech tyres I lost a lot of mates that way.

I’ve never been much of a “small car” guy, but I’ve always kind of liked these. I got the chance to drive one when I worked as a light-duty mechanic at a Beverly Hills Unocal station.

Quick, agile, and very responsive. And while the cabin was definitely tight for my 6’4″ frame, it wasn’t as bad as one would expect. With the Datsun 1600 and 2000 roadsters, they managed to capture all the fun and charm of the classic British and Italian roadsters of yore- without the headaches.

I had one of these in 1975. It was a ’67 1600 cc. It was a lot of fun to drive! It seemed to have a lot of “British” traits; it seemed to always need some sort of maintenance and the parts were sometimes very hard to find. One good thing about it though, is was very easy to work on, and was a good solid driving machine and a tremendous chick magnet, for a sophomore in high school!

I enjoyed this artical very much. My Father-in Law Hidehiro IIzuka designed this car at 27 years old in Tokyo in 1956. Fresh out of college his boss came to this young designer and said “Nissan needs a sports car”. And he went to work with charcoal pencils (His original sketches are so awesome). You can see these sketches on line if you google his name. The first showing of the “SP310” was a the Tokyo Auto Show from October 25th~ November 7th 1961. After he designed this car. Nissan offered to pay for his graduate degree and told him to pick any school he wanted to go to. He chose Chicago University. I asked him why Chicago, and he said because it’s where all the top designers from Bauhaus went after WWII. And yes….he was fascinated over European Sports Cars and wanted to capture the Spirit of compact power and styling for Japan. I met him when I was dating his daughter (We’re married now with two teen daughters in Southern California) back in 1988. He was living in La Jolla with his family and was President of the Nissan Design Center in La Jolla. There are several publications about Hirehiro Iizuka and his legacy with Nissan. He is retired now in Japan and is 81 years old. A fascinating Man.

Hate to correct you on the great article but the roadster pictured in the advertisment with the girl is a 1969 High windshield roadster not 1967.You can really tell by the tear drop side markers on the front fender that were only on the 1969.

once upon a time I had 47 Datsun roadsters at the same time so I’m fairly familiar with them…a small correction, the Datsun 1500 came out BEFORE the MGB, no calling it a copy please. I’m in recovery now and down under 25 of them which include Four 67.5 2000’s and the only prototype Datsun 1500 roadster known in existence with full documentation…all are available, I have buildings full of parts and other things to do with my life 🙂 Time to pass the torch